A tale of two presidents

9:01 PM,
Jun. 21, 2013

Written by

David Sirota

This is a tale of two presidents - the one we hope we have and the one we actually have. It is also a tale of two kinds of violence - the surgical and the indiscriminate - and how the latter blurs the distinction between self-defense and something far more sinister.

This story began last year, when the White House told the New York Times that President Obama was personally overseeing a "kill list" and an ongoing drone bombing campaign against alleged terrorists, including American citizens. Back then, much of the public language was carefully crafted to reassure us that our country's military ...